Film Review: Byzantium

byzantium

Some would say it’s time for Vampires to be retired for a while, that Twilight has damaged the creature’s credibility and it’s time to focus on some other monsters.  I’m sure there were many horror fans that tired of the fact that Twilight did have an impact on the genre and arguably so did True Blood, though True Blood at least took an adult perspective on the monster.  I tend to believe that all it takes is one movie to reclaim a subject and bring it back to its true glory and for vampires this happened with Byzantium.

Seeking refuge Clara (Gemma Arterton) and Eleanor (Saoirse Ronan) return to a place they used to call home.  When Clara meets Noel, a loner living in a deserted guesthouse they find shelter there, Clara soon setting it up as a brothel to make them money.  Eleanor enrols in school and meets Frank who she connects to and writes him a story that reveals her past.  When this story is shown to their teachers though it gains some unwanted attention of the past Eleanor and Clara have run away from.

The story that Eleanor shares is almost a dark fairy tale set in 1804, around the times of the Napoleonic war.  Telling the story of how Clara first became a vampire, then was led to turn her daughter (Eleanor) it is the perfect setup for the events in the movie.  The story is slowly revealed through the movie and Eleanor is a tragic and lonely figure, the only company she has had is her mother, whose manic protectiveness tends to control her life.  The reason for the protectiveness is revealed of course in the story and the results when it is revealed.

The relationship between Eleanor and Frank (Caleb Landry Jones) is also an interesting one with his terminal leukaemia.  This puts him in perfect placing for Eleanor to take pity on him and somebody she feels she can relate to.  The relationship between Eleanor and Frank is one that does have the Romeo & Juliet element to it, the doomed lovers so to speak as we know it shouldn’t work, especially if Clara had her way.

Part of what works with Byzantium and what makes it such a good story is the acting ability on show in the film.  Arterton and Ronan play off of each other quite well, a simmering contempt between mother and daughter both feeling trapped in their relationship and wishing for their escapes.  They are both almost complete opposites of each other, Clara the deadly killer and Eleanor the compassionate one who only gives death to those who want it, this does hit on typical vampire themes but it handles it well.  I also liked the fact that although not traditional vampires their relationship with life was very much about blood and the lust for it.

Adding to vampirism the theme of misogyny is probably something that adds a different flavour to Byzantium, it is often something that causes Clara to strike, but it also adds a refreshing edge to the movie.  Normally in vampire movies we see the male vampire having the edge, even in Twilight where people argue that Bella is a strong female character we see her dominated by Edward, in a somewhat creepy way.  Byzantium tends to test this misogyny, and fight against it, which is refreshing and should be seen more often.

In terms of actual horror it’s somewhat hard to argue that Byzantium is a strong horror film, and with its routes being a young adult play by Moira Buffini it’s arguable that this wasn’t the plan anyway.  The film is not as toothless as Twilight and nowhere near as badly written and with the focus brought back to blood, Byzantium is the kind of film that will bring the vampire back to former glory.

Byzantium is released on Blu-ray and DVD in the United Kingdom September 24th

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